Did you think when Jerry Jones built his shiny silver football palace down the street from the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington that his ball club would become the “other” team in town?

Me neither.

Here we are in the most wonderful time of the year in Texas, the heart of football season, and the team we all eat, drink and sleep is just 1-4 and threatening to fall completely out of contention before they reach the halfway mark, and no one in the Dallas/Fort Worth area seems to mind too very much.

Only one thing could possibly ease the tension at Cowboys’ headquarters: a first-ever trip to the World Series for the beloved Texas Rangers.

For that reason, Jerry Jones should send a few cases of ginger ale (the Rangers don’t do champagne in deference to the best ball player to ever wear their uniform, Josh Hamilton) over to Nolan Ryan and his team. He might send a “Thank You” card, as well.

While Jerry’s boys continue to underachieve, fire one miscue after the other, and defend the seemingly indefensible rhetoric of its head coach, the unlikely journey toward a world championship continues for the Rangers.

Who said this was a football town?

If you happened to see game six of the ALCS between the New York Yankees and the Rangers, then you know there are plenty of amped, rabid, ecstatic baseball fans in these parts, too. They just needed a reason to cheer.

Now they have one.

So does Jerry Jones, who ought to be the biggest fan of the Texas Rangers. If they should close the deal with a World Series championship, he might get a pass on the entire 2010-11 football season. We might even forget how disappointing it is that we won’t become the first home team fans in NFL history to cheer our team to a homefield Super Bowl victory.

Why? Because before we host our first-ever Super Bowl, we will welcome the World Series to town.

Gene has been an avid Dallas Cowboys fan for nearly five decades, which amounts to just about his entire life. The only time he was not a Cowboys fan was that brief period at the beginning of his life, when he didn't have all his baby teeth and could not yet say "Cowboys." As soon as quit slobbering, he started hollering, "Go Cowboys!"